Capital City

Stargard’s tenure as a capital city which began in the year 1668 was related to the partition of Pomerania after the Thirty Years’ War. One part of the region went to the Swedes, the other, including Stargard, became the dominion of the Elector of Brandenburg. The town became the seat of the Pomeranian Authority. The capital city status resulted in the expansion of the town and the increase of its population. A mint was built in Stargard and the local merchants took over the market in Pomerania and Neumark. The French colony that was founded in the town went on to become the largest Huguenot community in Brandenburg Pomerania. Collegium Groeningianum was officially recognised as a university. Once the Swedish part of Pomerania was taken over by Prussia in 1720, capital city institutions were gradually relocated to Stettin. The Griffonet in royal robes reminds us that when Stargard was the capital city of Brandenburg Pomerania, numerous important and highly educated figures arrived in the town. Stargard was the home of the first steward of the Elector of Brandenburg, Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ whose residence was located in Pyritzerstrasse (which is Mieszka I street today).